Hola, I have a male and two female swordtails in my 29gallon tank. Theyve been living there for about a year now and they about 1.5-2 inches long. They've probably bred before, but the fry most likely got eaten by either the kribs or the barbs. Both of the females seem to be pregnant but I am not sure. They aren't very fat like my guppies are when pregnant. They both have a bit of black near their abdomen. They also both have a white round-ish tube thing poking out. They've had this white thing there for a few days and they've been pooing out of it too. Ive noticed when my guppies are about to give birth they have a little white thing similar to this. Any ideas??? Should I put them in my breeder net with a few plants, because I want to breed them.
Thanks, Dylan :):-)

Oldman47

12-25-2009 08:39 AM

If you want to save swordtail fry, you will need lots of cover near the tank surface for the fry to hide in. Swordtail fry head towards surface plants for a hiding place, unlike the guppies that you find hiding in the gravel. In your situation, I would choose a single female to move to a separate breeding tank, at least a 5 gallon, and keep an eye on her. A separate tank because swordtails are just too big to leave in a breeding net for more than a day. As soon as she drops her fry she needs to go back to the main tank or all of the fry will be eaten. I suggested only one female be moved because the swords are quite predatory and each female would eat the other's fry as they were being dropped. At least with only one female, you can judge when she is eating fry faster than she is dropping them.